An Unusual Friendship
by Collared Creature
Summary: A brown bear and his pregnant mate come across a friendly stallion and his herd. [Warning: Very long!]


The tired she-bear's paws shock with the effort of walking, bogged down with the heavy, sometimes annoying, sometimes comforting weigh of her unborn cubs.

"C'mon, Lusa," Toklo encouraged his exhausted mate with a soothing lick between the ears, "just a little farther and we're there. I'll even carry you if I have to." The brown bear reassured his mate as she leaned against him, sighing happily as some of the weigh was relieved off her wary paws.

"Are you sure you can manage?" The smaller black bear asked playfully.

"Sure, I can." Toklo replied. After a bit more walking, an exhausted Lusa collapsed in a soft, comfortable nest, overlooking stunning purplish-blue snow-capped mountains.

"I wish these cubs would come out already," Lusa moaned, feeling as if she'd been pregnant forever. She was eager and excited to meet them though. She'd been dying to meet her cubs ever since she found out she'd been carrying them!

"Oh, babies," Toklo's gruff voice spoke to the unborn cubs inside Lusa's womb, "what are you doing to your poor mother?" He questioned, nuzzling them affectionately. The stubborn brown bear chuckled at the situation they were in. Never in thousand years did he think he'd fall in love with the playful, brave, energetic black bear much less be excited to be a father!

The ground vibrated around the two and Toklo teased, visibly prepared to defend his mate and soon-to be born cubs.

"I mean no harm," A tall creature assured him, ears flattened as he took a cautious step back, long black tail swaying gently as he moved.

"Sorry for trespassing." Toklo apologized, "I was so focused on finding my mate," He pointed his snout toward a panting Lusa, "a place to rest I guess I didn't notice a scent."

The creature shook his large head, "Even if you weren't so focused, you wouldn't have smelled any, my kind don't use them." He explained.

"Oh." Was all Toklo could say. '_How odd_.' The brown bear though with a dismissive shrug. "Hey," He took a while to study the animal before him, "you aren't the famous _Spirit_ everyone's been talkin' about, are you? The one that escaped the humans." The more he talked, the more excited he became, the creature—no _horse_—bearing a striking resemblance to the legendary stallion.

"Why, yes. Yes, I am." Spirit declared proudly, a smirk on his muzzle as a look of awe and wonder came over Toklo's face, his brown eyes shining with reverence.

A pained yelp from Lusa brought him back to reality.

"What's wrong?" Toklo asked worried, by her side in a heartbeat.

"The…cubs…are coming." Lusa panted, as a contraction sent a wave of pain though her body.

"The cubs are coming." Toklo repeated, it taking a while to sink in before, panic washed over the soon-to-be father.

"WHAT DO I DO!" A panicked Toklo roared to no one in particular.

Lusa shot him a half-hearted glare that made the panicking brown bear grow silent, casting the laboring she-bear a guilty and apologetic look.

"First of all," A voice said as a female Twoleg approached, "get her some moss to bite down on." The raven-haired girl kneeled beside the laboring black bear as Toklo ran off in a brown blur.

"Don't worry, Lusa." The human assured her, rubbing her heaving flank. "I won't let anything bad happen. Just push when your body tells you to."

Lusa nodded, "W-who…a-are…y-you?"

"The author." The girl responded proudly.

* * *

After a quick and painless labor, an exhausted, but happy, Lusa smiled down at her two cubs, a male and female.

"Um…I think we should call her Speckle." She said, gentling nudging the nursing cub, who squeaked in response as the author gushed quietly over the babies' cuteness.

"Why?" Toklo asked, a pile of juicy-looking berries beside him.

"She has little flecks of brown in her pelt." The brown bear peered closer at his daughter, who, sure enough, had flecks of various shades of brown in her black pelt.

The male cub squeaked, rolling over and failing his paws in a vain attempt to right himself. The author grabbed the cub and hugged him to her chest before bring him to eye-level, "I think we'll call you Tumble, little guy." The excited girl looked to Lusa and Toklo, who nodded in approval.

"Tumble it is." The raven-haired declared, briefly cuddling the cub and telling him how cute he was before going over to Spirit, Rain and their filly.

She bowed to the legendary stallion and his family, "Sorry I made you guys mostly background characters," she said, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly, "it's not what I intended, it's just how it came out."

"Don't worry, it's ok." Spirit reassured.

"Thanks for the easy labor." A smiling Rain said.

"Your welcome. So, for names…."

"Something nature-y."

"How about Storm?" She suggested, looking at the dark gray filly and noticing how her mane and tail were a darker gray and how her coloring lightened on her stomach.

"That's prefect, thanks." An excited Rain said, keeping her voice so as not to wake her sleeping daughter.

"Your welcome." She said, staying to cuddle the babies and catch up with her friends. Eventually, thought, she proofed out in a cloud of smoke and glitter.


End file.
